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Briolette Wire Wrapping Techniques (Tutorial)

by Rena Klingenberg. © 2003-Present Rena Klingenberg. All Rights Reserved

These simple briolette wire wrapping techniques will get you going quickly.

We’ll start out with two teardrop or briolette beads:

. . . and then create a wire wrapped bail on each of them, with my easy step-by-step instructions:

Then you can turn them into earrings or whatever purpose you might have for them.

Supplies:

• 2 briolette or teardrop beads.
  My briolettes are glass beads, about 14mm x 12mm.
• Soft round wire, 20 gauge.
  (You might use Artistic wire; or craft wire; or regular copper, brass, silver, etc. wire.)
  You’ll need 2 pieces of wire, each 10″ (25.5 cm) long.
  (Make sure your wire will fit through your briolette bead holes.)
• Wire cutter.
• Flat nose pliers.
• Chain nose pliers.
• Round nose pliers.

How to Make a
Wire Wrapped Briolette:

Cut your 2 pieces of wire, 10″ (25.5 cm) long:

Now we’ll work on one briolette at a time.

Pick up one of your wires, and place your flat nose pliers about 2″ (51mm) from one end of the wire:

Use your flat nose pliers to make a bend that’s a little sharper than 90-degrees – so that your wire looks like this:

Now string one of your briolette beads onto the long end of your wire, so that the 2″ (51mm) wire end sticks up above the top of your bead.

Use your chain nose pliers to grasp the long wire end right next to your bead:

. . . and bend the long wire upward until your wires cross above the tip of your bead:

Use your chain nose pliers to grasp the longer wire end just above where it crosses the shorter wire. Bend the longer wire so that it now points straight upward:

Use your chain nose pliers to grasp the shorter wire end, right where it crosses the longer wire. Bend the shorter wire so that it now makes a 90-degree angle with the longer wire:

Now we’ll wrap the shorter wire end around the longer wire end.

Use your chain nose pliers to grip both wires, between the top of the bead and the place where the wires cross:

Use your flat nose pliers to grip the shorter wire:

. . . and wrap the shorter wire around the longer wire – for a total of 2 or 3 wraps.

You’ll get the smoothest, best wraps if you keep your shorter wire pulled taut, wrapping firmly as you go:

Use your wire cutter to clip off the remaining end of your shorter wire.

Cut the wire as close as possible to the wraps you just made.

Now your wire and briolette bead should look like this:

Now we’ll make a wrapped wire loop above the wraps you just made – and then we’ll wrap the wire down to cover the top of the briolette bead.

With the tips of your round nose pliers, grip your wire above the wire wraps you made.

Bend your wire over the top of your plier jaw:

Move your pliers to grip the longer end of your wire, right next to the bend you just made. Then wrap the wire around your plier jaw to form a loop, with the long wire end pointing straight out in back:

Now use your flat nose pliers to grip the wire loop you just made.

Start wrapping your long wire below the loop you just made, and keep wrapping smoothly around your other wires, working downward toward your bead:

. . . and then continue wrapping around the top of the bead itself.

When you have a small tail of wire left, use your flat nose pliers to squeeze gently down on the wire wraps you just made:

Now use the tips of your round nose pliers to grasp the tip of your wire tail:

. . . and curve the wire around your plier jaw to make a little curve or open spiral:

Or, if you don’t want the small open spiral on one side of the bead, you can trim that wire end to just a few millimeters long, and use your chain nose pliers to tuck it up under the last wraps you made:

This briolette wire wrap is finished!

Here’s a view of front and back sides together:

Now you can do your second briolette wire wrapping with the same techniques.

By the end of this online video class, you’ll be designing and making your own artistic earwires, clasps, connectors, and pendant bails.

You’ll also learn my tips for making wire jewelry more easily, with more professional looking results.